It seems like Twitch is regularly embroiled in various controversies. There are a number of things that make Twitch streamers want to protest the company, but one common reason is the platform’s decision to sometimes ban streamers for seemingly minor offenses or, conversely, not ban other streamers despite apparent violations of Twitch’s TOS, often with no explanation. One of the most controversial Twitch bans to date was that of gaming streamer Dr Disrespect in June 2020.
For the past year, Dr Disrespect maintained that Twitch never gave him a reason for his permanent ban from the platform. In August 2020, the content creator moved to YouTube and seemed to continue his streaming career with little hiccup, building up a subscriber count in one year on the new platform that almost matches the 4 million he once had on Twitch.
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On August 23, during a YouTube livestream, Dr Disrespect revealed that he finally learned the reason Twitch banned him and that he has known “for months now.” Though the streamer did not provide any insight into the reason for the ban, he ended his statement on the subject by saying, “There’s a reason why we’re suing the f*** out of them. Okay? I don’t know how else to put it. The amount of damages and… No, no.” From his reaction, it’s clear that Dr Disrespect does not feel that the Twitch ban was justified.
It seems that even a year ago, before learning the reason for his ban, Dr Disrespect was aware that the situation with Twitch might lead to a lawsuit. In an interview with PC Gamer just a few weeks after his unexpected removal from the platform, the content creator pointed out several times that he needed to be careful about what he said for legal reasons.
Although from the outside, it appears that Dr Disrespect moved on from Twitch with no long-term damage, the streamer shared that that’s not entirely true. He revealed that, more than a year after being banned from Twitch, he is only earning a quarter of what he used to. “We’ve certainly tried to maximize the most of what we have to work with,” Dr Disrespect stated, and then thanked his viewers for their support. “We’re doing well enough.”
Nevertheless, continued Dr Disrespect, the ban affected him not only financially but also from a networking perspective, compromising the relationships he had built over the years with companies like Activision and EA. Inevitably, said the content creator, potential sponsors and partners will question why he got banned. The Twitch ban impacted every aspect of what Dr Disrespect was working on to build his brand. Blacklisting and shadow bans exist, whether they’re obvious or not, he stated, and the situation has been “extremely disheartening” and “a rollercoaster of emotion.”